Encore
by Anime Kat Reaper
Summary: A story about what might have happened after Kagome went down the well that last time to live in the Sengoku Jidai to live with her one true love; Inuyasha...and the rest of the gang as well! Story starts off with a false alarm, but for what, you will just have to read for yourself to find out.


_**Hello everyone~! This story came about because I was reading some Inuyasha fanfiction and this idea lodged itself in my brain. Inuyasha being the first anime (unless you count Pokémon...) I'd seen as a child, I'm just paying tribute to it in this fiction.**_

_**I'm posting this right now as a reward for finishing my PSAT testing...and because I have a test first thing tomorrow morning and want to see something good.**_

**Permanent Disclaimer - I own none of the characters but the OC's and the plot; Rumiko Takahashi does. **

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"OUT OF THE WAY! OUT OF THE WAY!" A silver haired man with dog ears yelled, running at full speed through the small farming town to reach a specific hut. This one hut was semi-secluded from the rest near a red temple gate, and home to the village healer. In his arms was a black haired woman in traditional red and white robes, reflecting her priestess status. Right now, however, instead of having a bright smile on her face as she normally would, it was twisted into a slight grimace, one hand resting on her swollen lower abdomen. "I TOLD YOU TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!"

"Inuyasha!" A monk in deep purple robes yelled, only able to keep up with the hanyou due to him having traveled with him for just over four years. Spotting the woman and little-sister figure cradled so tightly in the half-breed's arms and the look of pain on her face, he quickly drew to the closest conclusion. "Is she going into labor!?"

"I DON'T KNOW! WE NEED TO GET TO KAEDE'S HUT **NOW**!" yelled the panicking Inuyasha, feeling increasingly nervous as the thoughts of his firstborn coming and something going wrong entered his mind. It really showed in how he was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Quickly jumping over a horse and his startled rider, he managed to put on more speed, leaving Miroku behind with the horse and peasants.

Finally-or so it seemed-he managed to get to the aged woman's dwellings, little Rin holding open the woven door flap.

"Quickly, put her down here," Kaede ordered, motioning to a futon in the center of the room. Inuyasha obeyed, gently putting Kagome down, sighing in relief and a bit of disappointment as he saw she was no longer in any amount of pain. Coming over and checking the young woman for herself, Kaede confirmed what Inuyasha already suspected. "It was just a contraction that caused ye pain, Kagome. Ye be getting very close to birthing soon, so it is not to be unexpected,"

Kagome giggled as she watched Inuyasha deflate, like a balloon with all it's air let out at once. His legs collapsed under him, making a 'thump' sound when his rear hit the wood floor. This was already the third false alarm for the baby coming; this bratty pup of his was already causing so much trouble, and it wasn't even born yet!

Turning to Kaede, Kagome asked the question she had said last two times she had been in this situation. "If there's nothing wrong, then can I go? I promised to help Rin collect some herbs. She said she wanted to show me a large patch of mugwort flowers **(A/N: This is actually a real herb used in kampo, the Japanese medicinal herbal arts)** she found,"

"Aye, ye may go, just do not do anything to push yourself," the withered priestess advised, helping the girl to her feet. Not wanting to be useless, Inuyasha scrambled to his feet as well and helped his wife out of the hut. Waiting out there was a small crowd of curious villagers, a panting Miroku. Sango and her three children were also here, the twins of which were draped over Shippo, pulling at his tail and ears. Lastly, Rin was peaking out from behind Sango. Upon seeing that there wasn't a swaddled infant in either of the two's arms, many of the villagers went back to the work they were doing before the interruption.

"So it was another false alarm?" Sango inquired, shifting her son on her back. Lately, she had been helping her friend prepare for the birth of her first child, having already had twins for her first birthing. After that, a singular birth felt like a walk in the park, as Kagome would say.

"Keh, what do you think?" Inuyasha retorted, crossing his arms, but the group could tell he was wondering himself when he would be able to properly greet his pup for the first time.

"Well, there's nothing to be done about it." Miroku stated, picking up his two daughters off of poor Shippo, whose eyes had reverted to swirls from the overstimulation of being treated like a toy. Heading over to his wife, he took their son from Sango as well, knowing that unless Kagome had protection from either him, Kaede, or Sango, the young miko would be all but bound to Inuyasha's side. Shippo was usually rather irate that he wasn't considered strong enough to protect Kagome, especially since the priestess had adopted him a month after she came back to the past, but when he tried to argue with Inuyasha about it, he received a quick bop to the head. So the reason why Sango was giving him their children was so that she could go with Rin and Kagome (and no doubt Shippo) as they collected herbs.

Later when he and Inuyasha were to exorcise a demon from the mansion of a local warlord, they would be left in the care of Kaede and a local village woman who had taken as to being a nanny for many of the younger children.

"Sah, Rin-chan, where is this patch of mugwort you found?" Kagome asked the young girl as they headed out of the village.

"Eto ne," she pondered, putting one finger to her chin as she tried to recall where exactly she had seen them. "It was by the area with the waterfall with a couple of caves around it. They were growing off the water spray,"

Looking at position of the sun in the sky, Sango turned to her friends. "We should be quick if we want to make it back in time for lunch,"

They ran into no trouble along the way, Shippo and Rin a little ways ahead of the older women who were discussing possible names for the baby. Kagome would name it if it was a boy, and Inuyasha if it was a girl. He seemed to already think it was a girl though, and wouldn't tell her the name he chose.

Stupid Hanyou. Not even an 'osuwari' had gotten him to speak.

Feeling movement in her stomach as the unborn child shifted, the miko placed her hand on what she assumed was it's foot. This pup, while being her first, was undoubtedly a very odd eater. Depending on the weather, her appetite could range from spicy to sweet in a heartbeat; from bitter to savory in the next. Plus, the things she had wanted to eat were rather...bizarre. Like the raw fish - no, not sushi; a fish she had snatched from a stream and eaten not five seconds later, scales and all - and _huge_ portions of meat.

It was most definitely Inuyasha's alright.

"Lady Kagome, we're here!" Rin shouted, spinning her arms in windmills, then falling down in the soft grasses. It was a rather pretty spot, Kagome thought. The early afternoon sun was causing the water to reflect a brilliant azure, and a gentle breeze to flow past that kept the group from getting too warm. The grass was healthy and thick, and there were flowers other than h mugwort currently in blossom around them.

"This is a really pretty place, Rin-chan. We shouldn't pick so much mugwort if we want it to look the same later on though," Kagome said, lowering to her knees as she located some of the herb they were there to collect, placing them in the baskets they brought with to them. Feeling the baby shift again, Kagome hissed, getting Rin and Shippo's attention. She grabbed their wrists quickly, then positioned them over a certain spot near the top of her abdomen. "Place your hand here...feel that?"

"Is that it's foot?!" Shippo asked, excited at feeling his surrogate brother move. Rin was staring at the bulge under her hand in amazement.

"Hmm, I think so. The baby absolutely loves to dig its feet into my ribs," Kagome sighed, and Sango giggled.

"The twins were worse; one had her foot in my ribs and the other was kicking my stomach. Then when they got tired of that they would switch positions. I swore it had to be the most awkward and uncomfortable thing when I had to move," the taijiya revealed, taking a sip from the river water. Seeing an unusually shiny rock in the stonebed, she thought to herself '_heh, why not?_', then pocketed it.

Kagome didn't even want to imagine it; one kid kicking you from the inside was bad enough. There was no way she was doing two unless she absolutely had to.

For the next ten minutes, peace ruled over the clearing as the afternoon was spent lazily collecting herbs and talking until the wind suddenly stopped.

Lifting his head, Shippo took heed of the youkai instincts he had and looked for the scent of another demon. Kirara did the same, fluffing out her fur coat. All the color drained from the kitsune's face when he found one he recognized. "KAAAGGOOOOOMMMEEEEE-OOOOOKAAAAAAA-SAAAAAAAAN!"

"Shippo-chan! What's wrong?" The young miko questioned, rapidly getting up in alarm, heading to the other side of the clearing where her adoptive son had yelled from. She didn't have to take more than a few steps as the kitsune cub barreled into her chest.

"H-he's here!" The russet boy yelled as he dug deeper into her chest.

Kagome and Sango didn't have to wonder who Shippo was talking about when they spotted a white cloaked figure floating towards them. He had on a mix of armor, formal dress, and the large fuzzy boa over his shoulder that was his tail. His long, flowing white hair, golden eyes and the purple markings in his face were also quite distinguishable.

"Ah! Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin cheered, running to greet the daiyoukai as he touched down on the ground in front of them, Jaken right behind him as usual.

"Shippo-chan," Kagome sighed, detaching the little fox demon from her haori. "It's just Onii-san coming to visit Rin,"

At the mention of 'Onii-san', Sesshoumaru whipped his head around to glare at the pregnant miko. He was a bit surprised to see how round she was, the last time he had seen her was when he brought the blue kimono for Rin. The great demon lord narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Unfortunately, Kirara - who was still growling for some reason - couldn't stand it any longer and transformed in a sudden ball of fire, launching herself at the white clad dog demon.

Sesshoumaru only had time to push Rin out of the way and put up an arm to block before the fire-cat was upon them.

"Kirara!" Sango yelled as her pet shoved the demon lord into one of near by caves. Despite being a mother of three, Sango was also a demon-slayer since birth. She managed to catch up to the two as Sesshoumaru regained his footing, Kirara's fangs sunk into his right forearm. Snaking her arm around her neck, she attempted to pry the feline off the Western Lord. "What has gotten into you!?"

At the contact between the three, a bright light shown from where Sango was keeping the rock she had found earlier. When it cleared, a one tailed Kirara was in Sango's lap as she herself had been tossed back, unhurt.

"Sango-chan! Onii-san! Are you two okay?" Kagome asked, waddling down the tunnel passage as fast as she could, Shippo, Rin and Jaken right behind her.

"I'm fine, but something is wrong with Kirara; she only has one tail!" The woman shouted, lifting her pet up to her face to examine in a closer detail, then up over her head so her pregnant friend wouldn't have to bend down.

It wasn't until Shippo noticed something different in the air that solved the mystery of why our favorite feline had lost one of her tails. "Her youkai scent is gone!"

"But how can that be!?" Shouted Jaken, finding it necessary to panic over the demon-turned-normal-cat. Said former demon tilted her head and looked at her mistress in confusion.

"There was a bright light when I tried to pry her off Sesshoumaru, and we were all thrown back..." Sango recounted, and two people just remembered something very important.

"SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!" Rin and Jaken yelled, sprinting farther down the cave to where they assumed their lord had been tossed. Not wanting the two to get into trouble, the older women hurried after them.

Realizing that he was now standing all alone, Shippo scurried after them, yelling "WAIT FOR ME!"

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Sesshoumaru knew something was wrong before he even moved. He felt like someone had taken wads of Cotten and used it to plug his ears, nose and mouth. The last one was a very unpleasant feeling all by itself, but the plugged ears threw off his balance temporarily as he tried to stand up.

That was when he noticed his tail was gone, as well as his claws, and the hair near his eyes was not the silver it had been since the hour of his birth, but a deep black color.

_How did this happen...? There was a flash of light after that monk's wife tried to calm her berserk pet, and now I am a mortal, a _mortal! The great demon lord thought to himself, and if he had still been a demon he would have been snarling.

Deciding to get to the bottom of this, he paid no mind to his aching - _weak!_ - mortal body and see if he could find that miko and taijiya so that they could undo whatever it was to change him back to his original form. His arm that was bitten had healed apparently before he was changed into this degrading form, so that was one less thing to worry about.

He didn't have to walk far, as his servant and Rin came running down the one-way cave passage. They gasped upon seeing him, which caused him to scowl.

"Fluffy-sama isn't fluffy anymore!" The young human girl cried out, eyeing the former daiyoukai's shoulder where his white furry tail should have been. Besides the hair and claws, he was also missing the marks on his cheeks and forehead were also gone.

"Rin! Do not call Lord Sesshoumaru such an undignified name!" The little toad scolded just as the others reached them, Kagome panting slightly and holding her stomach. All this exertion so close to birth could _not_ be good.

"So it seems that Kirara wasn't the only one that was turned mortal," Sango commented, holding up the cat. Said kitty was currently fluffing up her pelt again, a low growl emitting from her as she stared at Sesshoumaru.

"Or somewhat normal; why does she keep growling at Sesshoumaru?" Shippo asked, hanging off his adoptive mothers' shoulder.

"It might have something to do with the annoying minor demon that has been following me recently," Sesshoumaru said, just as said demon materialized upon seeing a weakness in its target. The group ducked as it swiped its body along the cavern, Shippo and Jaken using fire to keep it away from their precious ones.

"Why haven't you killed this thing until now!?" Kagome demanded, protectively shielding her unborn child.

"I thought I could tame it and make it into a servant like Jaken is," came the terse reply, Fluffy being frustrated at not being able to wield his swords or any demon powers. "Jaken, go ahead and kill this bug; it was annoying me anyway,"

"H-hai, Sesshoumaru-sama! I will gladly-"

"Shut up and help me get rid of this thing!" Shippo snapped in a very Inuyasha-like outburst, throwing more bursts of blue fox-fire at the slithering form of the lower-level youkai.

Dancing around the hostile demon, Shippo and Jaken managed to get the beasts' attention solely on them. They managed to get it to face away from the defenseless humans, but during it's struggle and the two little demons' fights, the giant worm-like demon was constantly hitting the ceiling and walls the cave. This caused a loud rumbling sound as the walls started shaking, and little bits of dirt and debris dislodging from the bedrock ceiling and walls.

The cavern started shaking and shaking more ferociously until there was only one thing left that could have happened; a cave-in.

"Kagome!" Sango yelled, going to cover her friend as rocks started to fall.

"Fluffy-sama!" Rin cried as she tackled her savior. He held her close to his chest and hunched over, taking the brunt of any rock that fell on them.

Watching but unable to do anything as they took cover themselves, Shippo and Jaken could only watch as the stupid youkai that had attacked them and their families were covered from sight by layer after layer of stone and rock.

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"Is everyone alright!?" Sango called out, shifting the large rock she had used as a barrier so that her friend could get out.

"It would take more than that to kill off this Sesshoumaru and his charge," the now black-haired man said, using all the force his human legs could muster to break through the layers of rock over him, Rin clutched tightly to his chest. All four of them were covered in dirt and grime, but they were just glad that they were alright.

"Shippo-chan, are you alright!?" Kagome yelled through the new wall, hoping her voice reached the kitsune.

Thankfully, it did. "Kagome-okaa-san? I should be the one asking you that question!"

"We're fine, you runt," Sesshoumaru hissed, looking at the blocked passage in annoyance **(A/N: Is that the only face this guy can make?)**. "Jaken, you are to find my brother and get him to remove these obstacles so that we may leave,"

"At once me lord!" the green youkai snapped to attention, the scurried away, leaving Shippo still staring at the wall.

"Okaa-san, are you sure your alright?" the young kitsune questioned again, wanting to be 100% certain before he left to go find Inuyasha.

"Yes, Shippo-chan, I'm alright; just hurry and get Inuyasha please!" With a final nod, Shippo rushed out of the cave, trying to remember what village Miroku had said they were going to. Once she was sure that her adopted son was out of hearing range, Kagome turned to her fellow cavies. "So how did you turn Sesshoumaru and Kirara mortal, Sango-chan? I didn't think you had any purifying powers,"

"I don't, but...it was probably that strange rock I found in the river," Sango replied, reaching into the small pouch at her waist where she was keeping the little rock.

"...may I see it for a second?" the miko asked, sensing something odd about it.

Sango nodded, putting it in her friends' outstretched hand.

Bringing the stone closer to her face, Kagome could finally remember where she had felt something similar to this stone. "This is a piece of Mt. Hakurei! It's spiritual powers must have temporarily cleansed the Youkai blood from Sesshoumaru and Kirara,"

"Mt. Hakurei? That name is really nostalgic from our journeys for the Shikon no Tama," Sango replied, remembering that the mountain had been strong enough to completely turn Inuyasha human for getting too close.

"But that mountain was completely destroyed by Naraku," Sesshoumaru protested, having been their himself **(A/N: correct me if I'm wrong)**.

"Probably, but the left over pieces were most likely scattered like the jewel was." Kagome suggested, giving the rock back to her friend. "I don't think you'll be stuck like that forever; the stone didn't have that much power in it to begin with."

"Good; this Sesshoumaru cannot be stuck in such a weak body,"

"And he needs his Fluffy back!" Rin said, which caused the two older women to giggle.

They were still laughing when Kagome's face suddenly paled, and her hands snaked around her stomach. The merit did stop when she gasped out, "Sango-chan...I think it's time,"

The taijiya blinked. Once, twice. Three times. Then she rushed over to where her friend was sinking to her knees, pain clearly etched across her face. Sesshoumaru looked horrified, realizing what was happening. "Kagome-chan! Are you sure? It's not a false alarm like this morning, right?"

"I...don't think...so..."

"Kagome-sama..." Rin asked timidly, taking a small step towards the older women. "Is the baby finally coming?"

The miko popped open one eye, looking at the three worried faces in front of her. Another wave of pain, and she could feel the baby moving lower. "It would seem so, Rin-chan,"

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_**And so the first chapter ends! I have some work to do on my other fic "**_**There's no way that should be possible"**_**, so the next update is a little far away. Sorry, but I can't really help it.**_

_**Please review for me!**_


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